Global Issues Club

Here is The Story of Stuff that we watched in class. Watch it, talk about it, and leave a few comments:

Here is a place to raise any ideas for conference preparation. Use the comments section to raise and answer questions. Have your discussions here…

Here is a great article from the NY Times about the role of farmers trying to raise food in a more sustainable way and the obstacles in their way. Great prompt for our conference quote:

“It is people who do development, not governments, and therefore sustainable development is a local activity. All people, however poor, have some ability, however constrained, of changing what they do, in small ways.”

After reading the article think about these questions:

• How much power do these farmers have?
• How local are their efforts?
• Is it working?
• What is the role of the federal government?

Read this small blurb:

Consumers who would like to be able to buy local fruits and vegetables not just at farmers’ markets, but also in the produce aisle of their supermarket, will be dismayed to learn that the federal government works deliberately and forcefully to prevent the local food movement from expanding…

Read the whole thing here and leave comments so we can get ready for our conference…